Recovery Time?

[PoohGirls2]

Our 5 year old dd is going to have surgery in a couple of weeks.She is to have her tonsils and adenoids removed.
If your child/children has had this done, how long did it take for them to get back to normal?Too, what kind of restrictions were your kids on following surgery?:confused:
Thanks for any info that you can give me on what to expect.

[Goofeygal]

My son had is tonsils and adnoids out when he was about 9. It wasn't to bad. He was acting normal in just a couple days. The thing that took to longest was for him to be able to eat solid foods. That takes a while to make sure the stiches are all healed. But again different times and different dr's so it could be a little different. We gave him a whistle to use if he needed us, so that is a good thing to keep in mind. Best of luck to your son and let us know how he does.:mickey:

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

My DD had her tonsils/adenoids removed in November, due to severe sleep apnea.

Her recovery was not too long. Because she was so young it was hard to reason with her in regards to taking pain medicine, why her throat hurt, etc. The first day after she was sleepy, by day three the numb feeling went away and she was in a lot of pain. Made worse because she refused to take the tylenol with codeine prescribed for her. She is allergic to Motrin so we could not give her that and as we all know tylenol does not really cut it with more than mild pain. (At least it doesn't with my kids). She did not eat anything solid of course. Lots of italian ice, jello, warm soup and other soft foods. Lots of fluids. The ENT did not want her laying around too much after the first couple of days. He wanted us to get her up and about by day 4 or so. By the end of the week she was feeling a little better, looking a little better and sleeping through the night again.

One thing I have to mention. (Sorry, kinda gross). They have really nasty breath after this surgery, of course. I mean really bad. :sick: My sons had the same surgery when they were 2 and 3 also for sleep apnea and they had the same thing for a few days.

As for restrictions, we could not give them a bath or wash their hair for 24 hours. It has something to do with bleeding. (I can't remember exactly what he said, I just remember that). We could not let her drink with a straw. I don't think she would have wanted to anyway. Other than that, it was rest and no rough housing for a few days.

Make sure you give her the pain meds every 4 hours or whatever they say, especially the first few days. My ENT had me give it to Taylor before she started acting like she needed it so she would not be in too much pain. Get some good movies and books for her to watch. Lots of hugs and kisses of course. Keep an eye on her for any excessive bleeding or fever. My DD had a fever and the ENT said it was because she was not drinking enough. Once we forced her to drink the fever went away.

Best of luck with your DD. I know it is tough to have to watch your child go through anything like this. Keep us posted on how she is doing.

[ChipnDaleGal]

I had mine out at that age. More years ago than I care to elaborate on. :blush: So a lot of the details are fuzzy for me now. But it was back in the day when parents didn't really have the option of staying in the hospital with their kids at night. So the worst part for me was being scared and alone and wanting my mommy. I am sure that the surgery itself has better techniques and recovery times than it had all those years ago for me. But once I got home, I think I recovered pretty quick. The thing that upset me was that I couldn't eat all that promised ice cream that so many people told me about prior to the surgery. It burned my throat.

It was not a pleasant experience, but it took care of all the constant ear aches and sore throats I had, so it was a very good thing for me. Best of luck to your daughter and your family. I hope she breezes right through it all! :pixie:

[RenDuran]

My daughter had her tonsils and adenoids taken out three years ago.

She threw up blood quite a few times while still in the out-patient recovery room. That was the grossest part! She was still pretty loopy when they sent us home, so fortunately she slept the entire way home.

She couldn't eat anything hard or crunchy for at least a week on doctor's orders, but it took longer than that for her to want it anyway. She loved all the ice cream and popsicles. Still does to this day.

We were on strict orders to not let her run or jump for two entire weeks! And believe me, it got to be a joke trying to keep her from jumping around at that age.

It was all worth it....she had unbelievable sleep apnea and throat infections before surgery. Afterwards I had to keep checking her at night to be sure she was still alive....she was so silent! And she hasn't had anymore throat problems, even when strep throat was prevalent here!

Good luck!:mickey:

[StitchLuvr]

Ahhh ENT....my kids know them well.

My son had his adenoids removed with his 2nd of 3 sets of ear tubes. He was about a year & a half old and in day care. We had to keep him home for two weeks because the ENT didn't want him running around outside. We gave him his pain medicine regularly....with adenoids they get well until about day 8 and it's like they went thru surgery again. The ENT said that's when the scabbed-over healing tissue loses the scab and becomes "raw" again....my son went to bed a pleasant baby and woke up sweating, hot, and drooling because his throat hurt so bad. A few more days of pain medicine every 4 hours, lots of TLC & cold stuff and he was fine.

The hospital staff was great and the anestethist carried my son singing to him....they gave him a stuffed animal at this time that he carried with him or slept with it 24/7 until it fell apart....didn't make a big deal about "taking him" or anything and he was fine.....they told me if he would have been upset I could have gone with him, but I didn't want a whole big drama scenario since it was upsetting enough.

You feel bad for them as they're recovering but have to keep in mind it's for the best....my heart ached for him seeing him in pain.....luckily he doesn't remember any of it.

Feel free to PM me anytime....I've been down this road a lot....definitely encouraging to have others to talk to about it. Please let us know how it goes!!

[tinkerbellybutton]

Ds had his removed at 4 and had tubes put in. Honestly, he had no issues whatsoever. He was cranky from the anesthesia the first day and the next day he complained about a sore throat but after that you would never have known he had anything done. We weren't told not to let him run around or jump. They just told us to keep him somewhat quiet for the first few days and then let him let us know what he was ready for. He did have restrictions like no drinking straws,limited talking, and they said we coudln't get his ears wet (the water gets in through the tubes) I know there were food restrictions but I don't remember what they were. He also had issues with vomitting blood in the recovery room, they said that it was from the blood running down the back of his throat during surgery and upsetting his stomach. The hardest part I think for him was going into the O.R. but the staff at the hospital was great and I got to go in with him untill he was asleep. I had mine done at 15 and really don't remember much about it so I guess it wasn't that bad :) Hopefully she'll bounce back quick like he did. Give her a hug from us before she goes in :hug: and here's one for you too :hug: because I think it was almost as hard for us as it was for him. No matter what it's for, it's hard to watch your baby having surgery or in pain. Good luck! Let us know how she's doing.